Method and apparatus for containing and removing construction debris

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for containing and removing construction debris at a construction site. The apparatus comprises a base having low side walls and side boards mated therewith to form a construction debris container. The base is preferably molded plastic having collapsible side board stabilizers molded therein. The side boards are preferably conventional sheets of plywood. In the preferred embodiment, the base is delivered to a construction site and the side boards are disposed inside the side walls and secured together with a joiner to form a substantially rigid construction debris container. Once the container is filled with construction debris, the debris is removed from the container using relatively lightweight equipment such as a grapple. The construction debris container is then disassembled and removed from the construction site.

FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention relates generally to a method for material handling. Thisinvention relates particularly to a method for containing and removingconstruction debris.

BACKGROUND

Residential and commercial construction sites often generate a largeamount of dry waste and debris of highly varying sizes. This debris,sometimes comprised of material that is hazardous to the environment,must be properly contained at the site and disposed of properly. Currentmethods of waste containment and disposal include the use of a large,preassembled construction debris container, such as a steel dumpster, tostore dry debris. The debris is loaded into the large constructiondebris container at the construction site. To remove the debris, thecontainer is loaded by crane or front loader to a truck that drives thecontainer off the construction site. Unfortunately, this method ofdebris removal often requires driving heavy equipment over a curb orother surface that is fragile relative to the weight of the equipment.For example, to deliver a construction debris container or to retrievedebris from a container located behind or to the side of a house, asemi-tractor with flatbed trailer may have to drive through the frontyard. This may involve driving over a curb, on a sidewalk, on a drivewaystrong enough only for passenger cars, over the yard that may have asprinkler system laid, or over water control boxes. It would bedesirable to have a debris removal system that does not risk damagingfragile surfaces or structures. It would be desirable to employ a morelightweight container that can be delivered in parts and assembled atthe construction site so as to avoid delivery and removal by heavymachinery.

Another common method is to prop four plywood sheets against each otherto form a bottomless box. While convenient and relatively inexpensive,this has the disadvantage of allowing debris to contact the ground,where it may transfer undesirable materials to the ground, such asasbestos or caustic chemicals. Rain on the debris in the open box canexacerbate the transfer of such undesirable materials to the land. Itwould be desirable to contain the debris more efficiently.

Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a container forconstruction debris that can be delivered, assembled, disassembled, andreused without the invasiveness of heavy machinery. It is a furtherobject to provide a method of delivering a debris container, loading thedebris container with construction debris, and removing the debris froma remote location such that heavy equipment does not have to drive oncurbs, driveways, and other prohibited travel areas. It is anotherobject of this invention to provide a container for construction debristhat prevents contamination of the land at the construction site.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention is a method and apparatus for containing and removingconstruction debris at a construction site. The apparatus comprises abase having low side walls and side boards mated therewith to form aconstruction debris container. The base is preferably molded plastichaving collapsible side board stabilizers molded therein. The sideboards are preferably conventional sheets of plywood. In the preferredembodiment, the base is delivered to a construction site and the sideboards are disposed inside the side walls and secured together with ajoiner to form a substantially rigid construction debris container. Oncethe container is filled with construction debris, the debris is removedfrom the container using relatively lightweight equipment such as agrapple. The construction debris container is then disassembled andremoved from the construction site.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a partially-filled container and the preferredembodiment of equipment for removing the debris at a construction site.

FIG. 2A illustrates a partially-filled container and an alternativeembodiment of equipment for removing the debris at a construction site.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a base of the container.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view a base of the container with stabilizingridges.

FIG. 5 is a cross-section of the base of FIG. 4 along line 5-5.

FIG. 6 is a cross-section of an alternate embodiment of the base.

FIG. 7 is a perspective partial view of a second alternate embodiment ofthe base with stabilizing pegs.

FIG. 8 is a perspective partial view of a third alternate embodiment ofthe base with stabilizing pegs.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a cap joiner.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of an L-shaped bracket joiner.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a partially assembled container,

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of an assembled container, showing a capjoiner and an L-shaped bracket joiner.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is illustrated the inventive methodfor containing and removing construction debris, designated generally as10, which takes place at construction site 20. The construction site 20is the general area, such as a city block or parcel of land, wherein aconstruction, repair, rehabilitation, renovation, or other projectrequiring debris removal is taking place, and includes adjacent roads orchannels of ingress and egress where construction equipment, such asdelivery vehicles, may be located for utilization at the constructionsite. The project taking place at the construction site 20 may becharacterized as residential, commercial, or industrial; in thepreferred embodiment, the project is residential.

The construction site 20 may comprise heavy travel areas, prohibitedtravel areas, or a combination of both. Heavy travel areas can withstandingress, egress, and stationary location of heavy constructionequipment, such as dump trucks and cranes, without damage to the travelsurface or underlying structures. Common heavy travel areas include mainor heavy-load-bearing roads, adjacent undeveloped land, and industrialparking lots. Prohibited travel areas are impassable by heavyconstruction equipment without sustaining damage. Common prohibitedtravel areas include side streets, driveways, sidewalks, and parkinglots that may crack or crumble under excessive weight; street curbs orother embankments; hedgerows; fences; irrigation and wastewater ravines;and residential property which may contain special landscaping orirrigation systems or may collapse under heavy weight. In the preferredembodiment, illustrated in FIG. 2, construction site 20 is a residentialconstruction site populated by examples of both heavy travel andprohibited travel areas: main road 25 is a heavy travel area, whileresidential side-street 24, concrete embankment 23 or curb, driveway 22,and yard 21 are prohibited travel areas.

The container comprises generally a base 50 and one or more sideboards60. Following the inventive method 10, a base 50 is delivered to theconstruction site 20. The container 30 may be delivered assembled orunassembled, and the sideboards 60 may be delivered at the same time asthe base or separately. The base 50 and sideboards 60 may each becomposed of one or more materials suitable to contain constructiondebris, including steel or other metal, cardboard, plywood or otherwoods, woven, malleable, or rigid plastic, compacted rubber, or otherpolymers. The base 50 and sideboards 60 may be made of the samematerials or different materials. Preferably the base 50 is made of asubstantially waterproof, lightweight, durable, reusable, weatherresistant plastic and the sideboards are common 4 ft.×8 ft. plywoodsheets. Alternatively, the base 50 and sideboards 60 may be made of adisposable material, such as cardboard or plastic.

The container 30 may be any size large enough to contain theconstruction debris generated by a construction project of a certainsize. The container 30 may be shaped like a circle, square, rectangle,or any other shape conducive to containing construction debris, and ispreferably about 8 ft×8 ft. square bounded by the plywood sheets. Thecontainer 30 may be substantially watertight to contain wastewaterassociated with the construction debris and rain that falls on the openbox. Alternatively, depending on factors such as the local weather,cost, weight, and environmental regulations, the base 50 may beperforated or otherwise constructed to allow water to drain from thecontainer 30.

The base 50 works in cooperation with the sidewalls 60 to contain thedebris, which may be joined to each other in various ways to accomplishthe containment. Referring to FIGS. 3-12, various examples ofreinforcing the integrity of the assembled container are illustrated.The sideboard 60 is shown in dotted lines in FIGS. 5-7. In the preferredembodiment, the periphery of the base 50 has low sidewalls 51 to whichthe sideboards 60 are propped against. The sidewall 51 may becollapsible so that the base can be substantially flattened and easilystacked. To further stabilize the container, the base 50 may furthercomprise a ridge 52 that forms a trough 54 with the sidewall 51, intowhich a sideboard 60 is inserted. See FIG. 5. Preferably the ridge 52 ismolded into the base 50. In an alternate embodiment, another ridge 52 issubstituted for the sidewall 51. See FIG. 6. For added stability, thebottom 55 may be extended past the ridges 52. In a third embodiment,sideboard 60 is mated with the base 50 by inserting it between thesidewall 51 and a series of nodules or pegs 53 which are preferablymolded in the base 50. See FIGS. 7 and 8. Alternatively, the pegs 53 canbe fit into holes in the base, for example by friction fit or threads.Other structures to keep the sideboards 60 substantially perpendicularto the base 50 will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

The walls of the container 30 are sideboards 60. The sideboards 60 aresecured to each other such that they may easily be assembled anddisassembled repeatedly so that the container 30 can be delivered easilyand reused. The sideboards 60 can be fastened to each other by anyjoiner, including a fastening plate, corner cap 70, or L-shaped bracket71, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, respectively. To assemble the container,in one embodiment the sideboards 60 are mated with the base 50 and acorner cap 70 is placed over each top-corner intersection of the walls.See FIGS. 11 and 12. In another embodiment, the sideboards 60 are matedwith the base 50 and an L-shaped bracket 71 is placed around eachtop-corner intersection of the walls and secured there by a conventionalwingnut 72 and bolt 73. Combinations of joiners can be used, as shown inFIG. 12.

The container 30 may be assembled before delivery to the constructionsite 20, or may be delivered unassembled and assembled at a preferredlocation within the construction site 20. In the preferred embodiment,the container 30 is delivered unassembled to facilitate its placementwithin the construction site 20 at a location conducive to efficientlyperforming the project. Because this location may be remote from andinaccessible by heavy machinery, the parts of container 30 can betransported by hand or by lightweight vehicles. Multiple containers 30may be delivered to the construction site 20.

Once the container 30 is full or the construction project is completed,the construction debris is removed from the container 30 using a debrisremoval vehicle 40. Preferably the debris removal vehicle 40 is a dumptruck equipped with a grapple 41. See FIG. 2. The debris removal vehicle40 operator maneuvers the grapple into position over the container 30,lowers the grapple over the construction debris, grabs the constructiondebris, removes it from the container 30 and places it in the bed of thedump truck for subsequent disposal at the appropriate facility, such asa recycling or waste facility. In large or multi-unit constructionprojects, where there may be multiple containers 30, the debris removalvehicle 40 will empty one container, move to a second container 30 andempty it, move to a third container 30 and empty it, etc., until all thecontainers 30 are empty. The removal vehicle 40 is prohibited frompassing over any prohibited travel areas (such as yard 21, driveway 22,concrete embankment 23, and side street 24), so the removal vehicle 40advantageously remains on a heavy travel area or other non-prohibitedtravel area, such as main road 25.

In an alternate embodiment, the debris removal vehicle 40 is a debristransferor 43 equipped with a grapple 41, used in cooperation with adebris remover 42. The debris transferor may be a Bobcat or a frontloader, for example; the debris remover may be a dump truck or flatbed.FIG. 2A shows an alternate embodiment in which the debris removalvehicle 40 is a Bobcat 43 equipped with a grapple 41 cooperating with adump truck 42. As in the preferred embodiment, the heavy part of theremoval vehicle 40, in the alternate embodiment the dump truck orflatbed, does not travel on prohibited areas.

When the containers are no longer needed, each container 30 isdisassembled and the component parts, namely the base 50, sideboards 60,and joiners, are removed from the site. The components are preferablyretained for future use, but may be disposed of or recycled. In anotherembodiment, the entire container 30 is removed from the constructionsite, emptied, and returned to the site if necessary. The container 30,if too heavy to be transported on the ground over any prohibited travelareas, is removed from the construction site 20 by crane or over atemporary bridge that will not damage the prohibited travel areas. Thecontainer 30 may be taken to a waste facility, emptied and reused.

While there has been illustrated and described what is at presentconsidered to be the preferred embodiment of the present invention, itwill be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes andmodifications may be made and equivalents may be substituted forelements thereof without departing from the true scope of the invention.Therefore, it is intended that this invention not be limited to theparticular embodiment disclosed, but that the invention will include allembodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.

1. A construction debris container comprising: a) a base comprising abottom; b) one or more removable side boards that cooperates with thebase to contain construction debris.
 2. The construction debriscontainer of claim 1 further comprising: a) at least one joiner forconnecting a first and second sideboard to each other.
 3. Theconstruction debris container of claim 1 wherein the base furthercomprises at least one sidewall.
 4. The construction debris container ofclaim 3 wherein the sidewall is collapsible.
 5. The construction debriscontainer of claim 1 wherein the base further comprises a side boardstabilizer.
 6. The construction debris container of claim 5 wherein theside board stabilizer is a ridge projecting from the base to form atrough between the sidewall and the ridge to hold a sideboardsubstantially perpendicular to the base.
 7. The construction debriscontainer of claim 5 wherein the side board stabilizer is one or morepegs that projects from the base to hold a sideboard substantiallyperpendicular to the base.
 8. The construction debris container of claim2 wherein the joiner is a corner cap.
 9. The construction debriscontainer of claim 2 wherein the joiner is an L-shaped bracket.
 10. Theconstruction debris container of claim 1 wherein the base issubstantially watertight.
 11. The construction debris container of claim1 wherein the base allows water to drain therefrom.
 12. The constructiondebris container of claim 1 wherein the base is molded plastic.
 13. Theconstruction debris container of claim 1 wherein the side boards areplywood.
 14. A method for containing and removing construction debrisfrom inside a prohibited heavy equipment travel area comprising: a)delivering a base to a first construction site; b) assembling acontainer by mating one or more sideboards to the base; c) depositingthe construction debris into the container; and d) removing theconstruction debris from the container using a debris removal vehicle.15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the debris removal vehicleis equipped with a grapple.
 16. The method according to claim 14,wherein the debris removal vehicle is a dump truck equipped with agrapple.
 17. The method according to claim 14, wherein the debrisremoval vehicle comprises a front loader that cooperates with a dumptruck.
 18. The method according to claim 14 wherein the base comprises asideboard stabilizer.
 19. The method according to claim 14, whereinassembling the container further comprises attaching a first sideboardto a second sideboard with a joiner.
 20. The method according to claim14 further comprising delivering the base to a second construction site.